Ten or so people congregated under the covered, screened lanai, watching the storm. The FBI agent, Vance Buchanan, and a black-haired man with an olive complexion sat at a table. The rest were in chairs around a long oak coffee table.
“’Bout time you got here,” came a yell from the giant bartender from the Shadowlands. More greetings followed, a hash of male and female voices.
When Kim stopped, overwhelmed at being the center of attention, Master R pulled her next to him as if to remind her she had support. After a second, she realized she’d met most of them. By the coffee table was the bartender, Cullen. Next to him were Gabi and Marcus. When Gabi tried to get out of Marcus’s lap, he wrapped his arm around her, keeping her in place. She rolled her eyes and gave Kim a smile of welcome.
Kari sat beside her husband, looking even more pregnant than before. She grinned and waved, not attempting to get out of the chair. Next to her was Master Z and then the meanestlooking man Kim had ever seen.
Master R nodded toward the men at the table. “Do you remember Vance from the FBI?”
Her stomach tightened at the reminder of why they were meeting today. “Unfortunately, yes.”
She got a nip on the neck. “Until you move from under my roof, sumisita mía, you will observe respect.”
His submissive. An unsuspected knot in her stomach loosened. “I’m sorry, Master. Yes, Sir.”
The stranger at the table regarded her with eyes even darker than Master R’s. The man’s white button-down shirt didn’t hide his lean musculature, but he was smaller than the other FBI agent who was built like a Viking warrior. Yeah, she could see Vance leaping off a boat, heavy axe in his grip, or—with a name like Buchanan—maybe wearing a kilt and swinging a claymore.
The dark-haired man rose and walked over, leaning on a cane. “Ms. Moore, I’m Galen Kouros. We talked on the phone a few days ago, but it’s nice to see you in person. Vance and I are in charge of this investigation.” After a glance at Master R, he offered his hand.
“I’m glad to meet you, Agent Kouros.”
“It’s Galen.” He kept her hand in his for a minute as he studied her. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you had to endure what you did, but I’m pleased you’re looking so well.”
“Thank you.” Wow. Actual pleasantries. And everyone wore casual clothing with no collars, no BDSM equipment, no floggers in sight. Being in the normal world seemed unreal.
Galen gave her fingers a squeeze, smiled at Master R, and limped back to the table. Although polite, he was as intense in person as he’d been on the phone.
“Everyone here is either FBI or Shadowlands Masters and submissives,” Master R said in her ear. “Since Kari’s husband Dan is a cop, Galen asked him to help with coordinating the raid.”
Dan’s gaze moved over her in a lingering look, as if the cold-faced cop was memorizing her. He nodded but stayed beside his wife.
Master Z said something to the others and then crossed the patio. He glanced at Master R, then held his hand out to her.
Her fingers were in his before she had a second to think. Damn. Like Master R, the man simply exuded power.
“It’s nice to see you again, Kimberly.” His gray eyes held hers for a moment, then narrowed, and he gave Master R an unreadable look before smiling slightly. “I can tell you and Raoul are…getting along. You look good together.”
“You’re here!” Jessica trotted down the steps from the third floor, followed by Andrea and a slender redhead. The small blonde started toward Kim, then detoured to thump a tray of sandwich makings on the table by the FBI men.
Carrying a big bowl of chips, Andrea got snagged by the giant bartender who pointed at the coffee table in front of him. “Put it there, love. If anything’s left when I’m through, the others can help themselves.”
Andrea did exactly as he said and then pushed Cullen far enough sideways on the love seat to snuggle beside him.
The redhead added her bowls of dip before deliberately moving the chips to the center.
“Beth, those are mine!”
Grinning at the bartender’s loud complaint, the slender woman knelt beside the meanlooking, scarred-up man. Kim’s heart quailed as she waited for him to reprimand the woman. Instead he tugged Beth’s red hair lightly. A smile lit his darkly tanned face when she kissed his wrist.
Kim relaxed.
“C’mere, girlfriend.” Jessica pulled her away from Master R to give her a hug. “I wanted to visit you, but the feebies said I couldn’t.” She gave the FBI agents a disgusted look.
Galen frowned at her, although amusement turned his lips up. “New little slaves like Kim don’t entertain friends,” he said. “If Raoul didn’t normally have employees coming to the house, Gabi wouldn’t have been permitted there either.”
“Pffft,” Jessica said under her breath.
Master R grinned and murmured, “You may talk for a bit, Kimberly.” He kissed the top of her head and joined the others.
Kim clasped her hands together, annoyed at how her anxiety rose without him beside her. Dependent. You’re getting as dependent as a clown fish needing an anemone to hide in. She hauled in a breath. I’m a strong, independent woman… At least, I’m getting back there.
She deliberately turned away to talk with Jessica. “Hey, I saw you at the club when that dom slapped the brunette. I can’t believe you actually broke into a scene.”
“My bad. I should have called the dungeon monitor, but I was too mad.” Jessica scowled. “Sally’s one of the trainees, and when I saw her crying, I lost it. She’s so not into the faceslapping stuff.”
Kim understood completely. Being hit in the face was a shock. Horrifying in a way. Her stomach tightened as she remembered how Lord Greville had backhanded her. Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder to check that Master R was close. Just the sight of him calmed her nerves. “What did Master Z do?”
“Oh, Master Calm and Levelheaded. He was mad at the dom, since Sally hadn’t okayed face-slapping, but she hadn’t used her safe word either. She said she was too weirded out, and I believe her. She’ll sure be more careful with setting hard limits on her play next time. Z made the dom apologize, but he couldn’t do much else.”
“Uh…it looked like you bit Master Z. You didn’t, did you?”
“Well.” Red swept into the blonde’s face. “Maybe a nip. It’s not like I made him bleed or anything. I hate being gagged.”
“God, Jessica. You need lessons in behavior.” Kim bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing and glanced at Master Z. A little older than the others and with the elegant, pulledtogether appearance of someone who was wealthy and accustomed to it. “What did he do to you?”
Jessica lowered her voice. “He made me strip and put me on my back at the end of the bar.” She sent a fulminating glare across the patio at Z. “There I am, whining, ‘We’re engaged. You’re not supposed to want to share me,’ and he laughs and says he’s never minded sharing my beauty or even my punishments. God.”
At Gabi’s house, Jessica had mentioned Z’s inventive discipline but always with a rueful expression, never like a woman who’d been brutalized. He couldn’t have done anything too cruel. Could he? “Go on, before I burst.”
“That’s not sounding much like sympathy to me.” Jessica turned her frown on Kim. “You’re supposed to feel sorry for me.”
“Oh. Right. Lost my place for a moment.” Don’t laugh. Kim wrapped her arm around Jessica’s shoulders. “Awww, you poor, poor baby. What evil things did your mean dom do to you?”
“That’s much better. I knew I liked you.” Jessica grinned. “So—the bar top has recessed rings here and there. He tied my hair to a couple, so I couldn’t lift my head, blindfolded me, and used knee cuffs to spread me open for everyone to see.”
Kim couldn’t decide if she was horrified or turned on. She checked on Master R. He was talking to Z…and watching her and Jessica, his eyes filled with laughter. What was Z telling him? She turned back to Jessica. “Mmmhmm. Ah, go on.”
“He has this miniflogger with three soft strands—a pussy whip. He lent it to every dom at the bar and let each one take five lashes at my pink bits.”
“That douche bag,” Kim snapped, her mood changing abruptly.
“No, it didn’t hurt.” Jessica pulled Kim farther away from the group. “Dammit, that was the problem. Getting lashed like that, off and on, got me hot. Really hot. God, I think it lasted an hour or more. He sat and lectured me on proper submissive behavior and calling dungeon monitors and not barging into scenes, and all the while the doms kept me right on the edge. I swear, he waved them off every time I got close.”
Putting her hand to her throat, Kim tried to imagine being so exposed. Being excited and having something hitting her pussy. Oh boy.
“Look at those jerks,” Jessica muttered. “He’s sharing again, isn’t he?”
Kim glanced over her shoulder. Master R was leaning back in his chair, studying her. He had an erection he didn’t bother to hide, and he laughed when Z motioned like…like a whip. Oh Lord, don’t give my master ideas. “Uh.” What had she planned to say? Right. “Did one of them finally, um, ever…?”
